Honor and the Mermaid
by Yamagata
Summary: The way of Love and Honor has always been the code of the Naoe clan of the Uesugi. One man may soon discover love from a troubled girl who has suddenly joined the world of men.
1. The Day of the Mermaid

**Disclaimers: Remember, the Disney incarnations of The Little Mermaid belong to Disney. And Samurai Warriors, including its depiction of Kanetsugu Naoe belong to Koei-Tecmo.**

**I'm using an idea once used Beauty and the Beast for this story.**

Thousands of years ago, an ancient civilization existed under the earth's waters. These people had the appearance of humans but their lower halves were that of a fish. They were called Merfolk.

1569

The legendary sea king Triton had issued strict decrees. Merfolk were not to visit the surface world, as he considered the human race violent and evil.

Of all his children, Ariel was the youngest daughter, with red hair, and a blue seashell top.

She explored the human race, searching for human objects. This was what Triton disapproved of. He had soon found out and destroyed her grotto of human artifacts.

When Ariel felt all hope had faded, the mermaid princess heard rumors of a sorcerer of the seas. She traveled to the Sea of Japan and met the sorcerer. She begged for a way to become human.

He made a plan, "I shall give you a potion that will make you human for 100 days. You must find your lover within that time. If you find your lover and you declare for love for him or her, and that person does the same, you shall become human forevermore. But if you are unlucky, you will remain a mermaid."

Ariel accepted the potion and was given two gifts, one was a special castle for a home, and a sea flower which will bloom until the 100th day.

She hoped to find good use and was advised, "Good luck gaining the trust of the world you hope to earn a part of."

In her new home, somewhere in Japan, it was a European style castle. She had swimmable aquariums for the fish who volunteered to go with her. She also had animal friends who could go on land and sea.

On her first day, she tried a 20 year old male, who saw her as a monster in disguise. After a week, she tried a male who would have slave driven her. On the 10th day, she tried a female who was drawn to her form.

The following day however, Ariel was horrified to find her scalp floating in a swamp. It was the courtesy of a man from Owari, Nobunaga Oda, who distrusted outside species.

On the 15th day, she tried a family but was greeted with sticks and stones.

At the time of the 26th day, she seduced a 17 year old, who brushed her aside at evening and went with another.

On the 30th day, the mermaid princess she snuck into the home of an old man, but was kicked out when discovered.

The 39th day, Ariel brought in a little girl who had been searching for her family. She loved her first, but when the parents found out she was alive, the kid was returned to her family.

Day 40, Ariel came upon a man who she felt would be a perfect match for her. But instead of feelings, she was threatened that if he saw her again, would kill her.

She returned to her castle in grief, and her friends tried to comfort her. Ariel looked at the stars that night and said, "Gods, please help me. Find someone who will accept me. Help me to find a human who I can love without incident."

The princess heard no answer and said, "Daddy, forgive me." to the empty air as if speaking to her father. Then she returned to her sleep.

10 days have passed since.

* * *

Echigo, Kanto region, Japan

Within the Naoe household, their main code was of honor, love and righteousness. Meditating in front of a statue, was a young man. He was wearing white robe-like clothing with armor bits on his character. At his side was a helmet with the kanji for love. His name was Kanetsugu Naoe. Nephew of Kagetsuna.

"Any who violate the Naoe code, love, righteousness and honor, must be punished." Kanetsugu said to himself.

A messenger came in and bowed, "Master Kanetsugu, we have a report. A group of bandits are attacking a north village."

Kanetsugu got up and got his helmet on. He got out his ofuda cards and picked up his tsurugi sword. Outside waiting for him was a man with a light beard and monk robes. This man was Kagetsuna.

"Kagetsuna, am I correct you have sensed such a disturbance like banditry?"

The adopting father got out a staff and said, "Yes. We must fight evil. It is the way of the Naoe."

"Okay," Kanetsugu got on his horse, flanked by two white armored officers, "let's do some good!"

The Naoe army rushed off on horseback and foot respectively.

In the north village, bandits were attacking villagers and ransacking homes, taking what they could from gold to food and water.

As the bandit leader said "Alright, we're gonna have a big party tonight, guys!" a voice yelled "No, you're not!"

They saw the Naoe clan of the Uesugi forces before them. Kanetsugu announced, "How dare you disturb the peace of the people of Echigo! You're crime is lower than the Seven Seas." He swung his sword up, then down, then stood with his legs apart and one knee bended with his sword pointed at the ground before continuing "I am Kanetsugu Naoe, retainer of Kenshin Uesugi!"

He swung the sword to his side and said "And in the name of righteousness," then pointed the tsurugi at the leader and said, "I shall punish you!"

The bandit lead said "Let's get 'em, boys!"

Soon, the Naoe troops and the bandits got at each other. Some bandits were disarmed, some were cut down.

Meanwhile, the honorable warrior held his sword in one hand, and the ofuda deck in the other.

The bandit chief charged and he swing his axe, but was blocked. Kanetsugu cut the man's arm and jumped away. The criminal tried to cut him again but Naoe used his ofuda to create a circle. It slowed him down and distorted his voice "You snot nosed freak!" The bandit's distorted voice yelled.

Kanetsugu kicked his face two times knocking him away. When the bandit was getting madder, the Uesugi general said, "A life in hell fits you good!"

The bandit leader jumped and yelled, "You're dead, kid!" but Kanetsugu made a sign with his ofuda, and it shot a laser into thug's heart.

The bandit leader fell to the ground with a yell, and was dead. The surviving bandits realized victory was hopeless, and left without their loot. The Naoe forces cheered.

"Now do you see? The blade of love can never be beaten!" Kanetsugu declared.

Kagetsuna clapped at his adoptive son's skill, "Well done. I'm proud to call you my son."

"Shall we go home now?"

When the Naoe troops returned home, they heard a soldier screaming in panic.

Kagetsuna and Kagemochi Amakusu (he's still generic warrior) rushed into a home. Kanetsugu followed. They found the soldier crying in pain.

"Ito, what's wrong?"

Ito turned to the black haired young man after trying to calm down. "5 days ago. I was with my men. We had no one to report to, no one! We were hunting elk, and just when I decided to head alone, I heard what sounded like angel singing. I looked and saw it..."

"What did you see?"

"They say there's no devil... But there is, right out of hell, I saw it!" Ito cried.

Kagemochi asked, "What did it look like?"

"Crimson hair, blue eyes, and the height of a woman." That was all he could make out.

"Did you cry for help? Did it show hostility?"

"Yeah! I called my men, I begged them for help, they couldn't do it! They couldn't do it..." Ito looked at Kanetsugu as tears dropped down his face.

Kanetsugu crossed his arms and said, "You may file a report to a psychiatrist first thing in the morning. I don't believe you."

"Did you escape?" Kagetsuna got worried.

"I did! With my life!"

Kanetsugu looked at his men then his adoptive father and just when he was about to walk out the door, he heard some womanly singing in the distance "Ah ah aaaaah, ah ah aaaaah." He turned, "Can you identify that?"

"Hard to tell."

The young warrior came out and covered his ears, "Who's doing this?"

After another "Ah ah aaaaah, ah ah aaaaah.", the singing stopped. Kanetsugu unsealed his ears and came back not knowing he was being watched by blue eyes from a bush.

"I am simply making the suggestion that you are a liar." Kagetsuna reprimanded to Ito.

"You better believe me if the creature kills."

(jingle: Kurayami no Tsuiseki from Hokuto no Ken 1:42 to 1:46)

**notes: the oc look for Kagetsuna Naoe belongs to me and in the following chapter, we'll know from the Naoe clan's pov who the devil out of hell Ito was describing really is.**


	2. First Contact

**Last time, Kanetsugu heard reports of a girl who was a demon right out of hell. He told the soldier who saw it he didn't believe him. But when he heard the same angelic singing, he could be dangerously close to belief.**

Day 50

Ariel was bathing under a waterfall. She was using the water like a shower to get the sweat off of herself. Prior to this day, she had discarded her mermaid bra, and stuck to only wearing red slippers. Ariel was also singing while the slippers rested on a rock.

As she did, she was approached by a red kitten female who had a bit of Ariel's hair, and a white seagull male.

"Oh, hi Treasure and Scuttle." Ariel turned and watered her own breasts.

Scuttle spoke to her, "What have you been doing this afternoon, looking for human treasures for us to examine?"

"Not only that, I have been looking for a lover."

Treasure also spoke, "That's fun. Who's the latest your looking at?"

"He looks young, older than me, 6 feet tall, and wore some white." Ariel explained as she washed her hair.

Scuttle held a finger up, "I should see him too. We could look at him tonight and-"

"Amazing! I have to get his attention to me. He's just the perfect fit for me!" Ariel smiled and jumped into the water.

Treasure was splashed and called "Knock it off." and laughed.

The mermaid princess also laughed as she came up. "Treasure, tonight, you can stay and look after the others, while I and Scuttle get a closer look at the human I watched an hours ago."

"Don't worry. Sebastian and I can feed Flounder so you don't worry too much." Treasure then received a playful kiss from her owner.

In the meantime, Ariel decided to air dry off on a rock.

Back in the town, Kanetsugu walked home with Kagetsuna. "If what Ito is saying is real, then we should alert full security to standby in case this, girl-devil decides to break into the town and snatch anyone."

"That sounds like a good idea. We should set up some "fish bait" tonight. Around the house." the adoptive father suggested.

"Sounds good to me."

(start song: Scatterbrained by Nature from Sailor Moon at 2:48)

At night, Kanetsugu was sparring against a giant punching bag. He landed two punches, then three kicks. Naoe then crouched and did an uppercut.

He moved back a bit then jumped at the bag and did a punch.

Kanetsugu thought of the bag as the devil Ito was talking about, then charged at it, then rapidly punched at the bag, before doing some kicks and a final punch that knocked the bag down.

(stop at 3:55)

Kagetsuna came in with some meatbuns. "That's the third punching bag you knocked down this month."

"You're right."

The Naoes prepared their dinner, but did not see Ariel peeking out the window. Scuttle joined her after.

"Look at him, Scuttle. Isn't he a handsome guy?" The red haired woman admired as she stared at Kanetsugu with his back turned.

"I guess so. Let's hope he doesn't spot you too soon." The seagull rubbed his head.

From the dinner table, Kagetsuna asked his adopted son, "Did you say anything to me?"

"No, why?"

"Oh, well. Just some spirits."

Ariel stared as the young man was having some tea. "If I could hug you, and kiss you, would you declare your love to me?" She asked.

After finishing his tea, Kanetsugu saw his empty cup, "I need to refill my tea." When he lifted his glass, he saw Ariel's reflection in the cup.

He looked to the window and saw nothing. "Who's there?!"

Ariel had ducked under the window and when the coast was clear, she said to Kanetsugu who wasn't looking, "Tomorrow, I'm gonna see you. And I hope you smile at me."

She left under the cover of darkness.

Kanetsugu got a report from Sadamitsu Usami (generic). "Any report on the creature?"

"We left some sushis on the road. No one or nothing has approached them as yet." Usami reported.

"All weapons on full alert?"

"Yes. When she picks up one sushi, we will ambush and cut her into a million pieces." Sadamitsu planned.

"And we'll join in when the trap springs." Kagetsuna showed his staff.

The young black hair declared, "To the monster who tormented Ito, your appearance is a deceiver, and a liar. Come out to me, and we'll settle this!"

"In the meantime, we'll get some sleep." Kagetsuna prepared to sleep.

Next morning, the young Naoe was the first out of bed. He went to find all the bait set from yesterday was gone. He asked a watchman, "What happened to the all the bait, did our creature take it?"

"No, we saw no one had gotten near it. Then when the sun came up, we took it off the streets."

"Good. The food didn't go bad?" Kanetsugu asked.

"No." The old man said.

"Did the monster go anywhere near the bait?"

"No."

"Alright. I'll try to take further search parties."

A while later, Kagetsuna was conversing with a soldier. "You wish to go hunting for wolves?"

"Yes. I'm inviting your family help to mine get us some dinner to catch in the forest." the soldier offered.

The honorable warrior went to his armory and got his staff ready. "This staff can break wolf skulls in seconds!"

The soldier saluted, "I'll get my men ready too!"

"I'm with you as well!" A voice called. They turned and saw Kanetsugu with his ofuda and tsurugi.

The soldier was surprised, "Surely you're not wanting to-"

"Thank me later. While we're hunting the wolves, we got to find a way to kill that devil Ito was telling me about." Kanetsugu explained.

"Is Ito not coming?"

"He's at the psychiatrist."

The Naoe group then went into the woods. Kagemochi spotted a wolf and shot a rifle at it.

A wolf was cut by a soldier, before he suddenly was mauled by a wolf.

"What the hell happened?" Kanetsugu called out after taking out some wolves.

Suddenly, he heard calls of wolves.

(start song: Mighty Rivals Action from Kessen II)

Two wolves came charging at Kanetsugu. He fought against them with his sword, trying to deflect their claws.

He jumped off a tree and went to get a dive slash at one. Naoe stopped the movement of one with his ofuda and ran at the wolf, but was stopped by the other.

"Are you the mother?" Kanetsugu asked.

The mother wolf simply jumped on his face and attempted to bite down on his throat. He managed to throw her off and kill the held up wolf.

"No more interference!"

(0:51)

The wolf howled in a range and chased after the young man who was doing his best to deflect the slashes of the enraged wolf.

Seeing the danger, one of the men threw a kusarigama to Kanetsugu. "Try this!"

(1:10)

Kanetsugu ran to the chain and sickle and did a slash to the wolf's side. He managed to get a downward swing in, and finally pierced the blade into wolf's back. He then let the wolf run off, blood coming out of its back.

"Alright, let shock and blood loss do the rest and we'll go on." Kanetsugu ordered.

He did not see the dropped chain wrap around his leg, and he was dragged along the ground by the wolf, until she saw a cliff. Kanetsugu did his best to remove the chain, but soon, the wolf and Kanetsugu fell.

(end song)

"KANETSUGU!" Kagetsuna cried.

A wounded soldier came by. He was attacked by a wolf before watching the action.

"What happened, where's Kanetsugu?"

"Your son... He's dead..."

"What?!"

The soldier replied, "He took a tumble off the cliff with that mother wolf."

"No, that's not... That's not TRUE!" the older Naoe punched the ground.

Kagetsuna cried as he begged, "Kanetsugu... Please, come back... I'll never forgive myself..."

Kanetsugu was lying apparently lifeless, by the lifeless mother wolf. He groaned and tried to move his hand.

Once again, he heard female singing like yesterday, "Ah ah aaaaah, ah ah aaaaah."

"Ah ah aaaaah, ah ah aaaaah."

"Mother, are you there, singing to me?" Kanetsugu weakly called.

"Ah ah aaaaah, ah ah aaaaah."

"Mother?"

"Ah ah aaaaah, ah ah aaaaah." The singing stopped when Kanetsugu opened his eyes.

"You're alright." The red haired woman spoke to him and smiled.

But, Kanetsugu gasped and pointed his tsurugi at her, "You! What the hell are you?! Are you the so called red haired devil everyone has spoken about?"

"That's what everyone says. But I am a girl seeking love from your species. I am Ariel." She kindly greeted.

"Kanetsugu Naoe. You can call me, Kanetsugu." He introduced back.

Just then, a red small Caribbean crab came by with Scuttle.

"So, mon. Ariel must told me somethings about you. I wanted to meet you, mon." The red crab spoke in a Jamaican accent.

"And just who, is that talking crab?" Kanetsugu pointed.

"That's Sebastian, one of Ariel's friends from the sea. And I'm Scuttle, Ariel's best friend from the surface." Scuttle introduced.

Ariel offered, "Would you like to stay where I'm living?"

"Thanks for the kind offer but I-" Kanetsugu tried to reason, but fell to his knees suddenly. Sebastian shrieked. "What happened?"

Ariel went to his side. "Must have been that wolf." Kanetsugu told her.

She checked and saw wolf marks on his abdomen. "I think you should accept my offer, if you want to be treated."

"Okay. I'll stay with you as long as it takes. I'll do anything you ask." Kanetsugu smiled.


	3. Castle of Animals

Kanetsugu groaned as hot water was poured onto his injuries. It was being treated by a little emperor penguin. A little later, the wolf wounds were cauterized and the bleeding stopped.

He also saw that with the little black and white penguin was a brown walrus with short tusks. Naoe looked around and asked, "What is this place?"

"Ariel's castle. Your a guest." The penguin answered. "She asked us to properly treat you."

Kanetsugu was a bit surprised, "You animals can understand me?"

"Mmmhmm. I'm Tip." The penguin said, "And I'm his sidekick, Dash!" the walrus bowed his head in meeting.

The young honorable man bowed form the waist after standing up.

"I'd like to be on my way if you don-" Kanetsugu started but Tip told him, "Look. You should stay a long while and try to confess your love to Ariel."

Scuttle also came into the wash room and reminded, "Kanetsugu, you should know that Ariel has about 7 weeks of being human left."

Dash told the young man, "Think about it."

Ariel came in and bowed. "So, Kanetsugu. Would you like a tour of my home?"

"Okay. Let's go."

First, the two went to Ariel's quarters. It had a queen sized bed. "Here is where I sleep. Where I try to bring lovers when I bring them."

Kanetsugu spotted two fish aquariums and two atlantic tropical reef fish. One had yellow skin and blue fins and stripes, the other had pink skin and purple fins.

"Hey, Ariel." The yellow tropical fish said in a young male voice.

"Who is that?" the young human asked.

"This is Flounder, my best fish friend." Ariel pointed her right hand to the yellow tropical fish, and to the pink one, "And this is his sister, Sandy."

"Oh, hi, Kanetsugu!" the two fishes greeted.

"I'm beginning to wonder. How can fish survive here in the castle without water?" Kanetsugu asked.

"When this castle was made, it had a magical force around it that keeps the aquatic life here from dying out of water." The princess reminded.

"I see."

The two came to a room with a medium bed. "Is this where I can sleep?" Naoe asked.

"Yes."

Suddenly, Treasure and a lavender pony with red hair like Ariel's came by.

"Ms. Ariel. That is the guy you found, right?" the pony asked.

The Uesugi officer looked at the talking mammals. "Hmph, even these mammals here speak?"

"Yes, this is Treasure," Ariel introduced Treasure "and Seashell." then the pony. She said to them, "Seashell and Treasure, Kanetsugu."

They came into a kitchen with otters, raccoons and beavers. They were also handling cooking. One of the beavers greeted in an English accent, "Hello, Ariel!"

"This is Princeton. He's one of my cooks." Ariel introduced.

Kanetsugu chuckled, "Fascinating. A group of talking semi aquatic mammals handling a kitchen."

The two went down the hall and saw a group, a violet octopus, a sky-blue manta ray, a teal sea turtle and a green blowfish.

"So, fish out of water and still alive." The warrior bowed from the waist.

"Yeah, man. My name's Ray-Ray." the manta ray winked.

"I'm Ink Spot." the octopus smiled.

"Call me Shelbow." The turtle patted his shell.

"And I'm Cheeks, the saxophone fish."

"We're the Catfish Club. The music band from Atlantica!" Ray-Ray introduced his band.

The young man wanted to know what the outer parts were like. "Could you show me the outside?"

* * *

Meanwhile at Echigo

Kagetsuna could not hold back the image of his adoptive son, Kanetsugu, being killed by a wolf as revenge for its children.

"Why? If I had gone with you, you'd still be alive."

A messenger came by, "Kagekatsu is here. He wants to speak with you."

"Enter."

A man with black hair, and a ponytail, white samurai armor and a scar on his face came in.

"Lord Kagekatsu." Kagetsuna bowed on his right knee.

"We read the report. Kanetsugu died, I take it." Kagekatsu asked.

The older Naoe turned unhappy to his superior, "I speak the truth. I know he's still alive."

"We're not that sure."

"Listen to me, you have to come help me. Search the woods where we hunted the wolves in order to confirm Kanetsugu's status!"

The scarfaced warrior told him, "That may be ineffective. Do you have any other suggestions?"

"Give me 20 men and I can have my son back without burning that forest to hell." Kagetsuna suggested.

"You mean to say you could burn 20 of my men to hell? It's a lost cause." Kagekatsu shook his head. "The best thing we can do right now is hope he rests in peace."

"Well, I can't rest properly now!" the facial haired Naoe warrior yelled. "Please, help me, we have to find him. I fear he was kidnapped by the wolf's cubs."

Kagekatsu prepared to walk out and told Kagetsuna, "Good luck confirming for yourself whether he lives or dies."

* * *

Back at the castle...

Kanetsugu couldn't believe his eyes. He was seeing a swimming pool 30 ft deep. And strangely, it had aquatic fish swimming in it!

"Is this your idea of a... swimming area?" Kanetsugu was surprised.

Ariel giggled. "'It is. Some of my friends like swimming in it. I love doing it when I'm bored."

"First you have a barrier that allows fish to breath and now a swimming-" Kanetsugu started but suddenly, something appeared in the water. It jumped high out of the water and into the air. It was a killer whale. When it landed, Naoe was nearly splashed.

The whale showed it had a white spot on the tale.

"And just what is that whale doing here in your pool?"

Ariel walked up to the whale and petted it. "This is my whale friend Spot. He's all grown up to be with me."

Spot the whale waved and said something like "Hiiii."

Naoe walked up slowly, then petted the whale. He also saw two pairs of koi fish. Thankfully, the whale did not bite him.

Spot laughed.

Ariel put her right hand on her human friend's shoulder, "I have been fond of the human race's treasures. Would you like to see my collection?"

As they walked down the halls, they passed some seals, and ducks.

Kanetsugu was lead into a place where Ariel keeps human items. "This is where I usually store human items." She showed a rubber duck, "This is what my father made for me when I was a baby. I bring to when I take a bath."

The young warrior spotted a fork, "Where did you get that?"

"That's a dinglehopper, Scuttle said it straightens hair out." Ariel used the fork to brush some hair.

"Substituting a fork for a hair brush, may not always work." Naoe shook his head.

Ariel also showed a cuckoo clock. "It's so cute. That's my favorite clock."

Kanetsugu spotted a novel, "Where did you get that?"

* * *

Kagetsuna tried to get some soldiers to listen to him. "You must come with me to search the woods."

"And who would listen to you?" Ito asked.

"The more idiots get ideas, the less times you'll have with your families."

One soldier said, "I told my friends about the devil lady. It was a ghost story too crazy to believe."

"Then it has to real. She must be holding my son captive!" Kagetsuna reasoned.

"Where do you insist we start looking?" Ito asked.

The Naoe warrior got a map out. It was a map of the Kanto region. "We'll check Kai, and ask for support."

As the soldiers prepared to get ready, one of the men said, "If you're lying, we're going back home."

* * *

Ariel's Castle, nighttime

Kanetsugu had some noodles by himself in his quarters. He wondered to himself, "I wonder where Ariel really comes from."

Sebastian came in carrying some paper and a brush. "This is the paper and brush you asked for, mon." he called in a sing songy.

The young human male took the paper and brush kindly and said, "Thanks, Sebastian."

The red crab began to walk off as he said to himself, "Ariel's got to get him to sleep with her sometime."

When the Jamaican crab left, Kanetsugu began to write "Dear Kagetsuna, I hope you can see this letter in time. Although some assumed I'm dead as a wolf's claws, I saved by the person everyone believed to be the red haired demon Ito was talking about. It was really a mysterious human girl who is not as harmful as Ito believed to be. She went by the name Ariel and lives in a castle with talking animals. I too can speak to animals like you taught me but this is amazing. I hope you understand too. Your adopted son, Kanetsugu."

He put the letter on his drawer and went to sleep.


End file.
